Cape Town -
The City of Cape Town needs leadership and not violent confrontations, Mayor Patricia de Lille said on Wednesday.
“... the failure to contain anger and channel it democratically is also a failure of leadership which local government is meant to provide,” she said in a speech prepared for delivery.
De Lille was referring to violent service delivery protests in parts of the city including Khayelitsha.
On Monday, the Cape Times reported that 350 residents of the BM Section took to the streets to protest over houses and sanitation, forcing the closure of a section of the N2 highway.
One man was killed during the protest. Police were unsure if he was hit by a truck or if he was attacked.
A toddler Nhlanhla Ngalo was struck by an out-of-control bus that crashed through the walls of his home during a protest in the same area at the end of July. The 20-month-old died three weeks later.
His death was the fourth resulting from the service delivery protest, the newspaper said.
The bus driver, Sandile Hoko, lost control of the vehicle after being stoned by protesters. He died, and another shack-dweller was injured and later died.
De Lille explained that reallocated money for services that had been destroyed affected other services.
“For all of our redistribution, for all of our budget allocations, there is only so much money at our disposal,” she said.
“When we have to reallocate money for services that have been destroyed, we are taking money away from other services. That money is not replaced.”
The poor communities suffered the most because of this.
She asked that citizens not break what was provided to them as it would have an effect on them.
“Budgeting with public finances, allocating money to repairs - these are all long exercises,” she said.
“So when we have to wait to repair R20 million worth of damage to roads and traffic lights, the wait affects those communities and those people who need those facilities to safely go about their lives.” - Sapa